Report: Shanghai ranks second among global fintech hubs

​The Shanghai Fintech Museum, the first of its kind in the world, is located in Putuo district. [Photo/Shanghai Putuo Media Center]

Shanghai has secured second place globally in the Global Fintech Center Development Index 2025, marking the first time the city has reached this ranking, according to a report released at the 7th Shanghai International Fintech Forum on Nov 29.

New York retained the top spot, while Beijing and San Francisco (Silicon Valley) followed in third and fourth. London fell to fifth, and notably, Chinese cities claimed four of the top 10 positions worldwide.

Shanghai's ascent reflects its strategic strengths as an international financial center, including institutional advantages, a comprehensive financial market system, and large-scale application scenarios.

The city has seen a wave of innovation in integrating artificial intelligence with finance, advancing developments such as AI-powered wealth management, digital credit for small businesses, and cross-border digital RMB settlement pilots.

A key highlight of the 2025 index is the introduction of the global AI finance sub-index, which addresses the previous lack of AI-specific metrics in evaluations.

Shanghai excelled in this category, ranking first in the ecological foundation layer, demonstrating robust policy support, computing capacity, and data integration capabilities.

The white paper on fintech development also revealed that Shanghai’s fintech industry reached about 440.5 billion yuan ($62.3 billion) in 2024, with research and development investment ranking among the highest in the country.

While banking sector investments remained stable, securities and insurance technologies saw steady growth, accelerating industrial aggregation and regulatory innovation.

Looking ahead, with further integration of technology, application scenarios, ecosystems, and regulatory innovation, Shanghai is poised to become a globally influential fintech center, supporting China's ambition to emerge as a leading financial powerhouse, said Li Feng, vice-president of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.